Israel strikes ‘at heart’ of Iran’s nuclear program

Israel’s attack on Iran, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Dozens of Israeli jets attacked dozens of targets, including military and nuclear sites, in Tehran in a “preemptive, precise, combined offensive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program early in the morning on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces stated.

The IDF said that the attack was based on “high-quality intelligence” and came “in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” He added that it will “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz,” Netanyahu said. “We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

“Remember, Iran calls Israel the ‘small Satan.’ It calls America the ‘great Satan,’ and this is why for decades, it’s led millions in the chants of ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death to America,’” he added. “Today, Israel is responding to those genocidal calls with action and with a call of our own. ‘Long live Israel and long live America.’”

“Our action will help make the world a much safer place,” he said. Israel is “prepared for a wide range of scenarios in defense and offense that may be needed,” the IDF said. “For years, the Iranian regime has been waging a direct and indirect campaign of terror against the State of Israel, by funding and directing terrorist activities via its proxies across the Middle East, while advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

The IDF added that “the resilience of Israel’s citizens will be an important factor of the campaign.”

Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, said that “tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran.”

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” Rubio stated.

He added that U.S. President Donald Trump and the administration “have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners.”

“Let me be clear,” Rubio stated. “Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”

‘The Jewish state refuses to be a victim’

Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, stated that “following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the state of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Axios reported.

Sirens were heard throughout Israel. The Israel Defense Forces announced “a prohibition on educational activities, gatherings and workplaces, except for essential sectors.”

Netanyahu said that “for decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel’s destruction.”

“They backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons,” he said. “In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs.”

Iran has taken unprecedented steps in recent months to weaponize its enriched uranium, according to the Israeli prime minister.

“If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year,” he said. “This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”

Netanyahu put the preemptive attack in historical context. “Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime,” he said. “Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime.”

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, stated that he is at the embassy in Jerusalem and monitoring the situation closely. “We will remain here all night,” he wrote. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

A few hours before the strike, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that “we remain committed to a diplomatic resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.”

“My entire administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,” the president stated. “They could be a great country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“Game on. Pray for Israel,” stated Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he is “proud to stand with Israel.”

Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, told JNS that “these strikes telegraph to Ayatollah Khamenei that there is a cost to his decades of sitting comfortably in Tehran while his proxies set the region on fire.”

“These Israeli operations will make it a little less comfortable for the ayatollah,” he told JNS. “It also underscores that a deadline is a deadline under President Trump, and there are consequences to Iran’s stalling and rejecting the U.S. nuclear proposal.” (Brodsky noted on social media that the U.S. president’s two-month deadline expired on June 12.)

Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, stated that there were reported explosions “in Natanz and Fordow, Iran’s major nuclear facilities.”